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THE STORY OF THE 

HARVARD-YALE RACE 

1852-1912 



By 
James Wellman 

and 

Dr. Walter B. Peet 



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THE STORY OF THE 

HARVARD-YALE RACE 

1852-1912 



BY 

JAMES WELLMAN 

AND 

DR. WALTER B. PEET 



WITH A COMPLETE RECORD 
AND ILLUSTRATIONS 




HARPER &• BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 

NEW YORK AND LONDON 

M C M X I I 



?,o\ 



COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY HARPER a BROTHERS 

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

PUBLISHED JUNE, 1912 



CCIA31473? 

fc.v\ 



THE STORY OF 
THE HARVARD-YALE RACE 



PART I 
1852-1885 

THE year 19 12 brings the sixtieth anniversary of the 
first meeting between Harvard and Yale as rivals in 
sport. Their race in 1852 initiated a series of varied 
athletic contests, in which nearly all our better-known col- 
leges have at one time or another taken part. Out of that 
race grew all American college boating. To it must be 
ascribed, indirectly, the credit of the physical develop- 
ment which many graduates trace back to the boating 
of their college days. For Harvard and Yale, by inaugurat- 
ing races and other contests between students from differ- 
ent institutions of learning, furnished a needed stimulus 
to care of the body as well as of the mind, and hastened the 
recognition of physical education as an essential part of the 
college curriculum. If the benefits of college boating were 
limited to the six or eight representative oarsmen, the 
value of boating might well be questioned. But such is 
not the case. The fact that a picked crew is to be sent 
out to do battle against a rival does assuredly help to 
draw hard-reading men from their sedentary life to the 

Reprinted from Harper's Boating Book, 

I 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A CE— 1 8 5 2 - 1 8 8 5 

gymnasium and the river. Without these annual races 
boating at Harvard and Yale would languish, and perhaps 
utterly perish. The years which have passed since these 
colleges were first pitted against each other on the water 
has brought a marked improvement in the physical wel- 
fare of the average college student, and in this, as I have 
indicated, the Harvard- Yale race has been no unimpor- 
tant factor. 

As regards equipment and methods, it is more than im- 
probable that any changes which the future may bring will 
be as sweeping as those included in the records of the first 
thirty- three years of these contests. There will be no 
transition comparable to that from the clumsy barge, three 
and a half feet wide, rowed on the gunwale, to the slender 
shell of recent years. There will be no such series of changes 
as were presented by the early scratch-races on Lake Winni- 
piseogee, the turning races at Worcester, with their up- 
roarious accompaniments, the intercollegiate regattas at 
Springfield and Saratoga, culminating in 1875 in the beauti- 
ful spectacle of thirteen six-oared crews ready at the start- 
ing-line, and finally, the eight-oared contests which began 
between Harvard and Yale in 1876, and between Cornell 
and the field in 1895 at Poughkeepsie. The conditions of 
both races have been well tried, and nothing better has been 
found. 

But the experience and general perfection of methods 
represented in the college races of to-day are derived from 
much vain groping in the dark, from beginnings and experi- 
ments which seem laughable enough in the light of our 
present wisdom, and from many costly blunders. Many an 



THE HARVARD-YALE R ACE — 1 8 5 2 -1 88 5 

old oarsman feels even now a dull ache at his heart as he 
remembers how the result of some hard-fought race betrayed 
his faith in a new "rig," a new stroke, or a new system of 
training. There may still be graduates who recall the fifty 
and sixty strokes to the minute, pulled by the men of the early 
days, and they may be inclined to regard the sliding seats 
and slower stroke of to-day as signs of degeneracy. Consule 
Planco, "when Wilbur Bacon pulled stroke of Yale," or, 
"when Harvard sent forth the Crowninshields, Watson, 
the McBurneys, and the Lorings," "then, indeed, there 
was a race of giants upon the earth." Well, the race en- 
dures, and the men who represent the two universities at 
New London, year by year, sustain the traditions of their 
predecessors. No Harvard or Yale graduate will admit 
that his interest in the race has waned. He may care little 
for other victories, except in football, but he never fails to 
watch the wires when the decisive news is expected from 
New London. No one but a Harvard or a Yale man can 
fully understand the force of this feeling. Properly directed 
it is a stimulus to open and honorable emulation. Left 
uncontrolled it has led in the past to recriminations and 
ruptures which, I have faith to believe, have occurred for 
the last time. 

Boating began at both Harvard and Yale about 1844, 
but received little attention from the majority of the stu- 
dents until after the first Harvard- Yale race, in 1852. The 
challenge came from Yale, and was accepted by the Oneida 
Club of Harvard. The date of the race was August 3d, 
and upon August 10th, according to the fashion of those 
leisurely times, the New York Tribune published a report 

3 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A C E— 1 8 5 2 - 1 8 8 5 

sent by a correspondent at Center Harbor, N. H. This 
account was as follows: 

The students of the Yale and Harvard boat -clubs met each other in 
the depot hall at Concord, where mutual introductions took place, and 
they proceeded together to Weirs. Here the "Lady of the Lake" was 
in waiting to convey them to Center Harbor, where they arrived after a 
delightful trip of an hour and a half, just in time for a splendid dinner at 
the Center House. Some idea of the immense capacity of these boats 
may be gained from the fact that the captain requested the passengers 
not to seat themselves all on one side of the boat. . . . The students have 
free passage in her to any part of the lake; and indeed their whole trip, 
as we understand, was free, the expenses being defrayed principally, we 
understand, by the Boston and Montreal Railroad Company. . . . The 
Yale boats arrived on Monday, which was mostly spent in fishing and 
practising for the regatta on Tuesday. The boats are: From Harvard, 
the Oneida, 38 feet long, 8 oars; from Yale, the Undine, 30 feet long, 
8 oars; the Shawmut, 38 feet long, 8 oars; the Atlanta, 20 feet long, 4 oars. 

There is but one boat-club in existence at Harvard at present, which 
accounts for their sending but one boat. The crew have evidently had con- 
siderable practice— somewhat more than the boats at Yale. The Oneida 
is quite a model for fleetness and beauty. The first regatta was run on 
Tuesday at eleven in the morning. The shore was lined with a numerous 
and excited throng, and the betting ran quite high. At the third blast 
of the bugle, the boats shot forward almost with the speed of race-horses, 
while the band on the shore struck up a lively tune. The sight was per- 
fectly enchanting, scarce a breeze ruffled the water, and the whole crowd 
were anxiously bending their gaze upon the boats, which were flying over 
the water with all the speed which the vigorous and rapid strokes of the 
young oarsmen could produce. Meanwhile, the little parties who were 
out in skiffs were urging on the oarsmen with encouraging shouts as they 
rushed by them. The distance to be run was about a mile and a half, 
to a boat anchored off upon the lake. The Oneida ran the distance in 
seven minutes, the Shawmut being about two lengths behind, while the 
Undine and Atlanta pressed closely after. 

This was what was denominated the scrub-race, being merely a trial 
of the strength of the respective crews and no prize being awarded. 

The grand regatta came off this afternoon at four o'clock. The boats 
(with the exception of the Atlanta, which was not allowed to compete 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A CE — 1 8 5 2 - 1 88 5 

for the prize on account of its inequality in size and number of oarsmen) 
started at the distance of about two miles from shore and ran directly 
for the wharf. A large boat, with the band on board, was stationed mid- 
way upon the lake and [the boat?] played some very fine airs for the 
benefit of the lookers-on, for it evidently attracted no attention from the 
oarsmen, who were altogether too busily occupied. 

The result of the race was the same with that of the first, the distance 
between the boats being almost exactly the same. 

A fine pair of black-walnut oars, tastefully ornamented with silver, 
was presented to the Oneida, with an appropriate speech, by the Chair- 
man of the Deciding Committee. 

The first move toward an intercollegiate regatta was 
made by Harvard in 1858. Yale, Brown, and Trinity re- 
sponded to her call ; but the drowning of the Yale stroke, Mr. 
George E. Dunham, at Springfield, July 17, 1858, caused the 
abandonment of the race. The first regatta in which more 
than two colleges participated was not rowed until the fol- 
lowing year, and the second and the last general regatta, 
for a period of ten years, was held in i860. The experience 
of the Brown crew was not calculated to encourage other 
entries. Then the war, and certain restrictions imposed 
by the faculties of Harvard and Yale, made the boating 
record a blank until 1864. In 1865 Yale's time, first an- 
nounced as 17m. 42>^s., was afterward, according to the 
Harvard Book, "declared by both judges and referee to be 
a mistake." In this publication the Yale time is given as 
1 8m. 42>^s. The author of Yale Boating claims the 
faster time. In the Citizens' regatta, on the same course, a 
day later, the time of the Yale crew was 19m. 5><s. In 
1869 Harvard, after sending her four best oarsmen to 
England, won an unexpected victory from Yale at Worcester. 
Two of the Worcester crew afterward took the places of 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A C E— 1 8 5 2 - 1 8 8 5 

the men originally selected to meet Oxford. An unfortunate 
foul in 1870 caused an angry and protracted discussion, which 
was taken up by the daily press. This was the last of 
racing at Worcester. The advantage of the landlocked 
Quinsigamond course was its freedom from rough water. 
Its disadvantages were the necessity of a turning race, with 
the chance of fouls at the stake, and comparative inac- 
cessibility. In the opinion of Yale the general sentiment of 
the good people of Worcester was strongly in favor of Har- 
vard. In the opinion of Worcester's sedate citizens, the 
uproar which annually began at the Bay State House, and 
drove sleep from almost the entire city, finally became too 
dear a price to pay for the visits of either Harvard or Yale 
oarsmen and their friends. 

So a new era was inaugurated. Yale positively refused 
to row at Worcester. The New London course was ex- 
amined, and the report was favorable. But in April, 
187 1, Harvard, Brown, Amherst, and Bowdoin organized 
the "Rowing Association of American Colleges," for the 
management of an annual regatta on a three-mile straight- 
away course, and Springfield was selected for the first race. 
Yale neither participated nor consented to Harvard's ac- 
ceptance of her challenge, which named Springfield and the 
intercollegiate regatta as the place and time. Harvard's 
second acceptance came too late, and 187 1 was the only 
year since 1863 when Harvard and Yale failed to meet. 
Harvard's unexpected defeat by the Amherst Agricultural 
crew proved a text for much newspaper moralizing as to 
the superiority of "brawny country boys" over "pam- 
pered city youths," and others of the smaller colleges were 

6 



THE HARVARD-YALE R ACE — 1 8 5 2 - 1 88 5 

encouraged to enter the competition. When, in 1872, Har- 
vard was defeated by Amherst and Yale was the last of 
the six crews, the boating-fever broke out at almost every 
college which could possibly equip six oarsmen. Eleven 
crews entered in 1873, the year of the famous ''diagonal 
line finish." The flags, first given to Harvard, were after- 
ward recalled, and the race was awarded to Yale. The 
referee's decision is final. But those who care to review 
this curious controversy will find in the Harvard Book an 
explanatory diagram and various proofs and arguments 
which will appear convincing until the reader turns to the 
evidence and the special pleading set forth in Yale Boating. 
The crooked Springfield course presented peculiar diffi- 
culties to both judges and spectators, as is vividly suggested 
by the following account of the race of 1873, written for 
the New York Tribune, by Bret Harte: 

The great race was coming. It came with a faint tumult, increasing along 
the opposite side into the roars of " Rah !" and yells of " Yale! " like the bore 
of the Hoogly River — and then, after straining our eyes to the uttermost, 
a chip, a toothpick, drifted into sight on the broad surface of the river. 
At this remarkably and utterly novel sight we all went into convulsions. 
We were positive it was Harvard. We would wager our very existence 
it was Yale. If there was anything we were certain of it was Amherst; 
and then the toothpick changed into a shadow, -and we held our breath; 
and then into a centipede, and our pulses beat violently; and then into 
a mechanical log, and we screamed of course it was Harvard. And then, 
suddenly, without warning on shore, and here at our very feet dashed a 
boat the very realization of the dream of to-day — light, graceful, beauti- 
fully handled, rapidly and palpably shooting ahead of its competition 
on the opposite side. There was no mistake about it this time. Here 
was the magenta color, and a "Rah!" arose from our side that must have 
been heard at Cambridge — and then Yale on the other side, Yale the 
indistinguishable, Yale the unsuspected — won! 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A C E— 1 8 5 2 - 1 8 8 5 

The dispute of 1873 put a greater strain upon the rela- 
tions of Harvard and Yale. A new race of oarsmen had 
come forward in 1872, headed on the Yale side by Robert J. 
Cook and at Harvard by Richard H. Dana, 3rd. The rivalry 
was intense, and when, at Saratoga, in 1874, Harvard was 
fouled by Yale, there was an outpouring of the spirit at the 
lake and an outbreak of hostilities in the town, in the pres- 
ence of which no one would have dared to predict such har- 
mony as now attends the meeting of Harvard and Yale at 
New London. But the succeeding years brought satis- 
faction to both sides. In 1875 Harvard defeated Yale, 
and in the first of the eight -oared races at Springfield, in 
1876, Yale was easily victorious over Harvard. In the four 
intercollegiate regattas engaged in by both Harvard and 
Yale, Harvard took second place once and third place three 
times, while Yale was sixth in 1872, first in 1873, ninth 
after the foul of 1874, arid sixth in 1875. 

The race of 1875 at Saratoga was the first in which the plan 
of rowing in ' ' lanes ' ' marked out by flags was adopted, and in 
consequence there was a total absence of fouls. It may 
be because this race was the first which I had seen that it 
appeared to me an extraordinarily beautiful spectacle ; but 
I still think that the sight of thirteen six-oared crews in line 
was sufficient warrant for certain descriptive extravagances. 
The newspapers that year, as at the two preceding regattas, 
devoted pages to detailed accounts of the training, stroke, 
boats, and even the personal peculiarities of the oarsmen. 
The crowds of summer visitors in the grand-stand and on 
the shore were merely the background for the kaleido- 
scopic ribbons of the intent, excited, uproarious mob which 



THE HARVARD-YALE R ACE — 1 8 5 2 -1 8 8 5 

represented thirteen colleges. What bitter memories could 
resist the wild celebration which followed the race? Har- 
vard and Yale joined in congratulating victorious Cornell, 
marched together in a tumultuous procession, and mingled 
in a fraternal embrace. 

But this reconciliation really meant the end of the un- 
wieldy Intercollegiate Rowing Association. Frequent post- 
ponements on account of rough water had shown the un- 
certainty of the Saratoga course, the only one available for 
a race with so many participants. Now that Harvard and 
Yale were able to arrive at a clear understanding, the ad- 
visability of returning to an independent contest was con- 
ceded on both sides. Yale withdrew from the association, 
and challenged Harvard to a four-mile eight-oared race. 
The challenge was accepted. Harvard alumni decided that 
a crew should be sent once more to an intercollegiate regatta, 
and, as a point of honor, Harvard was represented by a 
six-oared crew in the Saratoga race of 1876, as well as by 
an eight-oar in the contest with Yale at Springfield. Har- 
vard rowed a separate race against Columbia in 1877, but 
the day of general intercollegiate races was ended for both 
universities, and their one distinctive race has remained a 
dual contest, with two exceptions — 1897, when both took 
part in the Poughkeepsie regatta which was won by Cornell, 
and 1898, when Cornell won against Harvard and Yale at 
New London. 

The improvement in the boats used in the Harvard-Yale 
races amounts to a revolution. The first boat owned at 
Harvard was the Oneida, built for a race between two clubs 

9 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A C E— 1 8 5 2 - 1 8 8 5 

of Boston mechanics, and purchased in 1844 by members 
of the class of 1846. She was a type of all the club-boats 
down to 1855. According to the Harvard Book the Oneida 
was " thirty-seven feet long, lap-streak built, heavy, quite 




THE " ONEIDA," THE FIRST HARVARD RACING-BOAT 

Bought in 1846 and used for thirteen years 
{By tlie courtesy of the "Outing Magazine.") 

low in the water, with no shear, and with a straight stem. 
Her width was about three feet and a half in the widest 
part, and she tapered gradually toward bow and stern. She 
was floored half-way up to the gunwale with wooden strips, 
and had a hard- wood grating in each end. These gratings 
were kept unpainted and oiled; and, although used by the 
bow-oar sometimes to walk on in using his boat-hook and 
in setting and striking colors, they were the principal vanity 
of the boat. Many a hard day's work have members of 
her crew done in sandpapering and polishing these gratings 
when things were to be made shipshape for some special 
occasion ! The boat had plain, flat, wooden thole-pins fitted 
into the gunwale. Her oars were of white ash, and ranged 
from thirteen feet six inches long in the waist to twelve 
feet at bow and stern. A plain bar of hard wood served 
for stretcher, and each seat had a red-baize-covered cushion. 
The tiller-ropes were stout, covered with canvas, and fin- 
ished at the end with a knot known as a 'Turk's head.' 

10 



THE HARVARD-YALE R ACE — 1 8 5 2 -1 88 5 

The captain's gig of a man-of-war will give a very good 
idea of her general fittings." 

Such was the first boat entered by Harvard in a race 
against Yale. The Oneida was used continuously for thir- 
teen years by Harvard students, and tradition has it that 
she was never beaten in a race. The boats entered by Yale 
in the race of 1852, the Halcyon, or Shawmut, and the Un- 
dine, were of a similar pattern. In the race of 1855 the 
Harvard eight-oared barge was slightly outrigged with 
wooden pieces spiked to the gunwale; but the crack Har- 
vard boat was supposed to be the Y. Y., a four-oar from 
St. John, fairly outrigged and furnished with oars of spruce 
instead of ash. The Yale boats, spoken of as much superior, 
had "bent wooden outriggers, braced like those of a wherry, 
running from the bottom of the boat across the gunwale." 

This was the first appearance here of outriggers, although 
they were used in the Oxford-Cambridge races after 1846. 
Oddly enough, the boat most deficient in these appointments 
won the race. Soon after, Harvard obtained from St. John 
an eight-oar, built especially for racing, fifty-one feet long, 
a lap-streak, fairly outrigged, without a rudder, and decked 
over with canvas fore-and-aft. This, the first university, 
as distinguished from club -boat owned by Harvard, was 
never used against Yale. Meantime, the use of outriggers 
and spoon-oars was becoming more general at both colleges, 
thanks to the influence of English boat-builders and the 
St. John oarsmen. In the fall of 1857 James Mackay, an 
English resident of Brooklyn, built for Harvard the first 
six-oared shell ever constructed in this country. The Har- 
vard was forty feet long, "made short in order to turn a 

11 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A CE — 1 8 5 2 - 1 8 8 5 

stake easily," twenty-six inches wide amidships, and carry- 
ing iron outriggers, although the oars were not kept in place 
by wires. The material was white pine, and the boat 
weighed one hundred and fifty pounds. The Harvard was 
shorter, wider, and higher out of water than the modern 
racing-shell, but the general plan of construction was similar 
to that now followed. The new shell was tested in local 
races. "The fight between the Merrimac and wooden 
frigates was not more decisive, and lap-streak boats were 
henceforth useless for racing." 

In 1859 Yale appeared at Worcester with a new shell, 
built by Mackay, and with spoon-oars. The Yale shell, 
built of Spanish cedar, was forty-five feet long, twenty-four 
inches wide, eight inches deep. With her crew she drew 
four and a half inches of water. Each boat weighed one 
hundred and fifty pounds. The Yale shell, which was 
rigged for a coxswain, although said at the time to be the 
fastest racing-boat in America, was afterward pronounced 
unsatisfactory by a member of the crew. "The stroke was 
on the port side, the outriggers were shaky and short, and 
the spoon-oars were but ten feet long, the length of single 
sculls." This boat was received only three days before the 
race by a crew which had practised in a lap-streak without 
a coxswain, with oars thirteen and a half feet long, and the 
stroke on the starboard side. In consequence of the short- 
ness of the oars the Yale crew was forced to increase their 
stroke from thirty-eight to forty-five, and, in a final spurt, 
to sixty. The Harvard crew rowed without coxswain or 
rudder. Under these conditions the first race between the 
shells was pulled. As the record shows, Harvard won the 

12 



THE HARVARD-YALE R ACE — 1 8 5 2 - 1 88 5 

regular university race on July 26th, by sixty seconds, to 
be beaten by two seconds in the "Citizens' regatta" on the 
following day. This was Harvard's first defeat by Yale. 

The result was significant. The two lap-streaks entered 
in the first race were easily left behind, and the time made 
indicated a remarkable advance, in so far as the records 
of those years may be trusted. Yale's time, 19m. 14s., 
was the best ever made, except that of the Harvard crew, 
19m. us., in a Beacon cup regatta at Boston — a comparison 
which may be accepted for what it is worth, since both 
courses and times were unreliable. Thus the superiority 
of the shell was clearly demonstrated. And another im- 
portant outcome of these two races was Harvard's adoption 
of "a rudder connected with the bow-oarsman's feet by 
wires." In the "Citizens' regatta" Harvard drew the side 
more exposed to the high wind, which blew across the 
course, "some of the gusts being so strong that twice on 
one side the crew were obliged to hold water to get the 
boat's head around." Little importance is attached to the 
influence of the wind by Yale writers in view of Harvard's 
fast time; but the circumstance is mentioned here simply 
as the cause of a new departure in steering. Something had 
been done in this direction with the Harvard Undine, a four- 
oared boat, two years before; but the plan of a rudder 
worked by the bow-oarsman was not adopted until the 
"Citizens' regatta" proved that a shell could not be satis- 
factorily steered by the oars. Although new boats were 
built for the Cambridge oarsmen the pine shell Harvard was 
used in i860, winning three races, among them the race 
against Yale and Brown. In 1865 the Harvard was broken 

13 



THE HARVARD-YALE R,A CE— 1 8 5 2 - 1 8 8 5 

up and her pieces preserved as relics. The oarsmen of those 
days cherished a personal regard for their boats which, I 
think, no longer exists. The lap-streaks used in the "irreg- 
ular" races, and the first shells, were named, a custom long 
since abandoned, and after a service, in some cases of several 
years, the parting from these old boats was like a parting 
from old friends. 

Yale introduced the use of sliding-seats in 1870. A 
correspondent, writing from Worcester, naively described 
the Harvard men as having "seats some eighteen inches 
long, running fore-and-aft, polished smoothly, and coated 
with grease, upon which they slide. The Yale men have 
seats so mounted that they slide themselves." Notwith- 
standing Yale's new device Harvard reached the turning- 
stake first, but was disabled at that point by a foul. Yale's 
time was slow — a fact due, probably, to delay at the stake. 
When sliding-seats were first used in the Oxford-Cambridge 
race, in 1873, the time was astonishingly fast. Harvard 
adopted the sliding-seat in 1872, and was defeated by Am- 
herst, rowing with stationary seats; but Yale discarded the 
new invention in that year only to be the last of six crews. 
There was, therefore, some apparent reason for the earnest 
discussion, pro and con, which preceded the universal 
adoption of sliding-seats. 

From 1873 on the changes in the rig of six-oared shells 
were only trifling modifications of tolerably well-determined 
standards. In 1876 "the Yale eight-oar was built by 
Keast & Collins, of New Haven, after the model of one 
built for Yale by Clasper, of Oxford (England), while the 
Harvard boat was the work of Fearon, of Yonkers. These 

14 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A CE — 1 8 5 2 - 1 88 5 

were the first eight-oared shells that ever competed in 
America." Paper boats built by Waters, of Troy, were 
favored for a time. The average length of these boats was 
fifty-eight feet. In 1882 Yale appeared with a boat sixty- 
seven feet long, so rigged that the men sat together in pairs. 
The temporary substitution of paper for wood as the ma- 
terial for racing- shells, which began in 1868, and the intro- 
duction of swivel row-locks were peculiarly interesting 
experiments, although only the latter proved permanent. 

Closely connected with the changes in boats is the de- 
velopment of boating methods, understanding by this 
phrase, training and styles of rowing. When the Harvard- 
Yale races began, such a thing as systematic physical edu- 
cation was unknown at our colleges. Dr. Sargent's scien- 
tific methods and his refinements in apparatus were not 
dreamed of. It was years afterward when Amherst became 
the pioneer in even and wholesome education of the body, 
and years after that when Cornell made general physical 
development an essential part of her curriculum. In 1852 
the Harvard crew only rowed a few times before the race, 
"for fear of blistering their hands." The Rev. James 
Whiton, of the Yale crew, wrote, in a subsequent account: 
"As to training, as now practised, there had been none — 
only that some care was taken of diet on the day of the race, 
such as to abstain from pastry and from summer fruit, and 
to eat meat in preference. One of the Yale clubs thought 
it was a smart thing when they turned out on Tuesday 
morning, an hour before sunrise, took their boat into a se- 
cluded cove, and rubbed her bottom with black-lead." In 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A CE— 1 85 2 - 1 8 8 5 

1855 the Harvard men "had all rowed during the spring- 
time, and had the same general style." The Yale crews 
"rowed with short, jerky strokes, more than sixty [?] to 
the minute." 

Up to 1864 the Harvard University crew had been beaten 
but twice — by the Union Club crew in Boston, 1857, and at 
Worcester in 1859. The Harvard men had the advantages 
of studying the St. John oarsmen, and they were near the 
water. "Yale never saw good rowing except at Springfield 
and Worcester." Nevertheless, the Yale crew of 1859 was 
put through a severe course of training. Winter gym- 
nasium work was taken up at both colleges after the second 
race. Among rowing-men Yale's short, choppy stroke and 
Harvard's long swing soon became proverbial. 

Training then, and for many years afterward, was largely 
guided by the crude empiricism of retired prize-fighters — 
"physic first, sweat and work down, no liquid, plenty of 
raw meat, and work it into 'em." An intelligent knowl- 
edge of the subject on the part of medical men, or amateur 
athletes of experience, was almost entirely wanting. 

The experiences of the Yale crews of 1864 and 1865 were 
forcible illustrations of old-school training. Mr. Edmund 
Coffin, a member of the Yale crew for three years, refers, 
in Yale Boating, to the training of those years as "more 
severe than any other college crews have ever had in this 
country. I believe the old and time-worn stories of raw 
beef, and the other things accompanying it, were facts with 
us; that training lasted about two months in its severity 
before the race. On week-days we rose about six, walked 
and ran before breakfast on an absolutely empty stomach, 

16 



THE HARVARD-YA LE R ACE — 1 8 5 2 -1 88 5 

between three and five miles, running more than half the 
distance, and a part of that at full speed, often carrying 
small weights in our hands. Most of this running-exercise 
was taken in heavy flannels, for the purpose of melting off 
any possible fatty substance. After that we breakfasted, 
attended recitation for an hour, rowed about four miles, 
attended a second recitation, dined, rowed again the same 
distance, and had a third recitation in the afternoon. All 
the rowing was at full speed, much of it over the course on 
time. The bill-of-fare consisted of beef and mutton, with 
occasional chicken, toasted bread, boiled rice, and weak 
tea, no wine or beer, and very rarely vegetables." Such a 
system as this resulted in light crews, for one of its chief 
objects was "to get the men down." 

In 1864 a professional trainer was first employed — Mr. 
William Wood — who was with the Yale oarsmen for four 
weeks before the race. In the same year "the Harvard 
men appeared with bare backs; and, as they had practised 
all the season thus stripped, presented a rich mahogany 
color, while the Yale crews, who had rowed in shirts, were 
milk-white by contrast. The New York Sun, in its account 
of the race, attributed the hue of Harvard's oarsmen to the 
use of some artificial coloring matter." It was at this race 
that the magenta and crimson became popularly confounded 
as the Harvard colors. Magenta was the color of the class 
of 1866, which furnished the entire university crew in 1865. 
The crew of the preceding year, unable to find crimson hand- 
kerchiefs at Worcester, substitued magenta perforce, al- 
though the color was called "red" in the programmes. 
Perhaps Worcester was the first town ever literally ' ' painted 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A CE— 1 8 5 2 - 1 8 8 5 

red." In 1865 the shops contained nothing but magenta, 
and its use caused an erroneous impression, officially cor- 
rected some ten years later by a formal return to crimson. 
Yale's stroke in these two races was quick and jerky, the 
arms doing more than their share of the work. Harvard, 
pulling only thirty-six and thirty-seven to the minute, was 
severely criticized by the New York Tribune, which re- 
marked editorially, in 1865, "No crew pulling less than 
forty to the minute has any right to expect to win a race." 
But a change was at hand. Under Mr. Wilbur R. Bacon's 
splendid discipline Yale had been victorious for two years. 
Harvard was stimulated to new efforts, directed by Mr. 
William Blaikie and other veteran oarsmen. For the first 
time at Cambridge the rowing-men entered upon regular 
work in the autumn. On alternate days they ran five or 
six miles. The old-school training was radically changed. 
"Instead of training off flesh the maxim was, keep all the 
flesh you can, and do the prescribed work." A far more 
liberal diet was adopted and continued up to the race; and, 
as the result, a heavy, "beefy" crew, well trained, won the 
race of 1866. A close study was made of English rowing, 
improved rowing-weights were obtained, and on them the 
candidates for the crew pulled a thousand strokes daily 
throughout the winter, meantime applying the principles of 
the "English stroke." This meant more use of the back 
and legs, and a firm catch at the beginning of the stroke. 
Yale, although pulling a slower and longer stroke, still 
relied mainly on arm- work. In the race Harvard quickened 
up to forty-three; but Harvard's half -minute victory was 
considered due to her new style of rowing. Six years later 

18 



THE HARVARD-YALE R ACE — 1 8 5 2 -1 885 

Mr. Robert J. Cook imported and modified an "English 
stroke," which won success for Yale. 

In 1 868, a year distinguished for the sign-stealing, howl- 
ing, and other nocturnal disturbances at Worcester, the 
styles of the two crews were described as follows: "Yale is 
dropping the rigid-arm stroke. The men reach well over 
their toes and come back with a strong, steady pull, finish- 
ing up with something very like a jerk, then recovering 
more slowly than the Harvards. Their backs are much 
more bent, and they do not seem to get so firm a hold. 
They row with oars rather longer, thus making up for less 
strokes. Harvard's stroke makes the men reach even 
farther forward, and row with perfectly straight backs, 
almost raising themselves off the seat at every stroke, giv- 
ing the stretcher a most wicked kick at the beginning, and 
finishing up gracefully with their arms." 

Thus the successive stages of rowing may be traced from 
exclusive use of the arms, at first, to use of the back and arms, 
then of the back and legs, with as little employment of the 
arms as possible, and finally to the principle of assigning 
to all the muscles of the body their fitting proportion of the 
work, but with the back and legs always the important 
factors. 

Of the slighter modifications introduced from year to 
year it is impossible and unnecessary to speak. The adop- 
tion of sliding-seats caused a slower stroke. The traditional 
"straight back" and "catch on the beginning" of Harvard 
date back to 1866 or 1867. After the time of Mr. Wilbur 
R. Bacon there was no radical new departure in rowing at 
Yale until Mr. Robert J. Cook spent the winter of 1872-73 

19 



THE HARVARD-YALE RACE— 1852 — 1885 

in England studying English rowing and gaining informa- 
tion of infinite value, which was practically applied in 1873. 
Newspaper ridicule of the "English stroke" was changed 
by the result of the race which was heralded as a "victory 
for Cook and for the slow stroke of thirty to thirty-two a 
minute with full use of the back and loins." Of this race 
The Harvard Book says: "Physically the Yale crew were 
not remarkably strong, but their captain had been able, by 
great perseverance and labor, to infuse into his crew the 
principles he had learned in England, and also his own 
energy and spirit. A great deal is seen in the newspapers 
about the English style, as if it were a peculiar and well- 
defined style. The fact is the English rowing-men have 
very different styles. When Harvard's four-oared crew 
were in England, in 1869, their style was preferred by the 
London watermen to Oxford's, as more like their own. The 
longer the race the slower should be the stroke, and what 
has been called the English stroke by the newspapers is 
simply the long stroke which is rather peculiar to Oxford 
and Cambridge, and to them only, when rowing over the 
Putney course of four and a quarter miles. Since the intro- 
duction here of straight-away races, where there is no 
change or let-up like that allowed in turning a stake, the 
crew cannot live to row a quick stroke even in a three-mile 
race. This fact gives color to the statements that the 
present [1875] style of rowing has been adopted from 
England." In 1882 Yale changed to a short, jerky stroke, 
pulled principally with the arms, the bodies swinging very 
little from the perpendicular. I believe Mr. Cook prompt- 
ly predicted defeat on first seeing this remarkable style of 

20 



THE HARVARD-YALE R ACE — 1 8 5 2 - 1 88 5 

rowing, and his prediction proved correct both in 1882 and 
1883. In 1884 the Yale crew returned to the old stroke, 
and after their victory Mr. Cook remarked, "We are now 
back to where we were in 1873," and he expressed a sincere 
hope that the "donkey-engine stroke" would not be seen 
again. 

At Harvard there was a new departure in 1877, which 
may be roughly termed a change from the "Loring stroke" 
to the stroke taught by Messrs. Watson and Bancroft. 
This stroke was begun with the body well forward, and the 
successive motions were: "first, the swing up, with a hard 
catch on the beginning; second, the slide with the legs, 
the arms still rigid; third, the arm pull, bringing the oar- 
handle to the chest; fourth, after the oar-blade is lifted 
from the water, a quick, outward shoot of the hands; fifth, 
the slide back by doubling the legs, and, last, the downward 
swing of the body." 

As to training, the prize-fighter school made its influence 
felt into the seventies. In 18 71 the Brown oarsmen were 
limited to nine swallows of water daily, and in 1873 the Dart- 
mouth giants were taken out directly after a hearty supper for 
a six-mile pull at full speed, on the old principle of "working 
food into 'em." Very naturally, four of the six were made 
sick, much to the surprise of John Biglin, their trainer. 
Fortunately, such ignorant and dangerous "training" as 
this has passed away. The best resources of science and 
experience are applied to the physical care of college oars- 
men. With a physician, a trained specialist, at hand to 
decide whether or not the candidate is fitted to compete 
for boating honors, the old argument of the dangerous over- 

21 



THE HARVARD-YALE RACE— 1852 — 1885 

exertion, and so on, of rowing rarely finds support. It is 
acknowledged that there are men with tendencies to heart 
troubles, let us say, who should never enter a racing-boat, 
just as there are men forbidden by inherited appetites to 
touch a drop of wine. But the first condition of participa- 
tion in competitive college athletics to-day is a competent 
physical examination. 

All this is of comparatively recent date, and yet, if we 
had such an American record as Dr. Morgan's University 
Oars, I think we should find very few instances of permanent 
injury, even among our earlier and poorly cared-for oarsmen. 
Let us gather a few names from such records as there are at 
hand. In the race of 1852 Mr. Benjamin K. Phelps, after- 
ward district attorney of New York, and Mr. George W. 
Smalley, the London correspondent of the Tribune for many 
years, were members of Yale's second crew, together with two 
future clergymen. Professor Alexander Agassiz was the 
bow-oar of Harvard's second crew in 1855, and he con- 
tinued to row "on the Varsity" in 1856, 1857, and 1858, 
In the last year Professor Agassiz occupied the bow, 
President Emeritus Charles W. Eliot the waist, and the 
stroke was the veteran B. W. Crowninshield — his fourth 
year in the Harvard crew. I regret to find in the records 
of that unsophisticated time that this crew rowed and 
won a race at Boston for a purse of $75, and another 
for a purse of $100. According to the fine distinctions of 
these suspicious latter days President Eliot lost rank as 
an amateur oarsman. As the race of 1858 was abandoned, 
President Eliot never enjoyed an opportunity of rowing 
against Yale. Mr. Caspar Crowninshield, who made his 

22 



THE HARVARD-YALE R ACE — 1 8 5 2 -1 88 5 

debut in 1858, rowed for three years, and was followed by 
Mr. F. Crowninshield in 1865 — the third Harvard stroke 
furnished by the family. He, like Mr. William Blaikie, 
Dr. C, H. McBurney, and R. S. Peabody, the architect, 
was a member of the famous boating-class of 1866. The 
names of Richard Waite, William P. Bacon, Charles H. 
Owen, Hamilton Wallis, and S. C. Pierson are distinguished 
in Yale's earlier boating annals, and "Wilbur Bacon's 
crew" has become a tradition. 

On the battle-field, as well as on the river, college oarsmen 
have made a record of courage and endurance. A member 
of the Yale crew of 1859 writes, "Within five years after 
the race every one of the Yale seven, and all but one of the 
Harvard six, held their commands as United States army 
officers." Mr. Brayton Ives, Yale's bow-oar in i860, won 
the rank of Colonel in the Union army, and, according to 
a. class history, was "in command of the troops who es- 
corted General Grant to the conference with General Lee, 
which resulted in the surrender of the rebel army." In 
after years Mr. Ives was elected president of the New York 
Stock Exchange and president of the University Club in 
New York. Mr. A. P. Loring, a member of the Harvard 
crews of 1866, 1867, and 1868, pulled stroke of the four beaten 
by Oxford in 1869. Mr. Robert C. Watson rowed on the 
Harvard crew in 1867 and 1868, and his valuable counsel 
later to Harvard oarsmen showed that his enthusiastic 
interest in boating remained unabated. 

Mr. William A. Copp entered the Yale crew of 1866, and 
rowed for four years, only to be beaten every year. Yale 
had just won a race when he began to row, but she won no 

23 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A C E— 1 8 5 2 - 1 8 8 5 

other until he was a graduate of four years' standing. I 
know nothing regarding Mr. Copp's personality, but I am 
filled with admiration at his courage in coming up, year 
after year, only to face defeat. So the roll might be pro- 
longed, McCook, Bone, Day, Adee, Kennedy, Kellogg, Thomp- 
son, representing a few of Yale's more persistent oarsmen, 
and Lyman, Simmons, Goodwin, Dana, Otis, and the Bacons 
serving the same end for Harvard. In this history there are 
two names which deserve conspicuous recognition — those of 
Robert J. Cook and William A. Bancroft. The author of 
the article on boating, in the History of Yale College, alludes 
to the fact that the class of '76 furnished for four years a 
captain of the university crew, and says: "This was Robert 
Johnston Cook, whose five years' practice of rowing at 
Yale, and quiet persistence in his determination to follow 
what seemed to him the best attainable methods of that 
art — spite of ridicule, abuses, and slander — resulted in a 
personal triumph and vindication quite unprecedented in 
the annals of American college-boating. It is simply a fact 
to say that no other collegian ever did so much to develop 
skill in rowing at Yale." 

Mr. Bancroft, in 1876, pulled stroke of the Harvard six 
at Saratoga, and of the eight-oared crew at Springfield. 
He continued as stroke of the Harvard crew for three years 
more, winning three out of the four eight-oared races with 
Yale. Very few men have worked more faithfully in the 
cause of Harvard boating, or studied styles of rowing more 
carefully, than Mr. Bancroft. There are other oarsmen, 
among them the members of Yale's splendid crew of 1876, 
and of Harvard's victorious crews of 1877, 1878, and 1879, 

24 



THE HARVARD-YALE R ACE — 1 8 5 2 - 1 88 5 

whose work should be recognized, but I can only single out 
a few, and I am confident that the memories of many of 
my readers will supply the deficiencies. 

Since the Harvard- Yale University race to 1885 forms my 
subject I have passed over the class and single-scull races and 
the intercollegiate and other contests, like those with out- 
side clubs and professional crews. In the earlier years of 
college-rowing, races with professionals, like the Ward and 
Biglin crews, were of common occurrence, and judges or 
referees at regular college regattas were sometimes se- 
lected from the same class. Harvard never employed a 
professional trainer in those years, although Yale crews, 
from 1864 to 1870, were under the care of "profession- 
als." 

The undergraduates themselves have an important 
though very different part in forming the character of these 
races. Nothing tended to lower college-boating in the 
eyes of outsiders so much as the disputes and recriminations 
which accompanied some Harvard- Yale races in their earlier 
years. Of these quarrels this article has taken little ac- 
count, although in some boating records to which I have 
referred this acrimonious spirit has been preserved in per- 
manent form. These issues are past, and it is the hope of 
all graduates that the newspapers will never again be filled 
with the squabbles of Harvard and Yale. The under- 
graduates of to-day have to sustain the dignity of their 
colleges and atone for some errors of their predecessors. 
This I think they are doing. This race is, or should be, a 
test of the picked men from the two colleges, pitted against 

25 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A C E— 1 8 5 2 - 1 8 8 5 



each other under conditions which each side should desire 
to make equal. In methods of training and styles of row- 
ing each crew may well endeavor to surpass the other. But 
anything which savors of a professional spirit must be 
discountenanced . 

To visit New London for the race is a very different thing 
from a visit to New London for itself. The old order has 
not wholly passed away, and contrasts of new and old face 
the lingering visitor on every side. The old mill stands in 
its mossy, shaded ravine as it stood in colonial days, and 
beside it the Winthrop mansion rears a front still stately, 
although insulted by the changes upon which it looks. Up 
on the hill the crumbling stones of an ancient God's acre 
preserve, in quaint phrase and eccentric rhyme, the memories 
of departed worthies, some of whom worshiped in a rude 
meeting-house hard by, while sentinels watched for the ap- 
proach of prowling Pequots. The meeting-house has van- 
ished as entirely as the Pequot. The modern church has 
usurped its place. But, just as the name of the Mohegans 
is preserved by a few descendants to the northward, so the 
earlier life of this seaport town is embalmed in its buildings 
scattered here and there, the old side by side with the new. 
Legends of Indian stratagem and Revolutionary warfare 
and tales of the stirring days when New London's wharves 
were lined with whalers and merchant-vessels are repre- 
sented by the odd old buildings which the passer-by scans 
askance. Outside the town the contrast continues. An- 
cient gambrel-roofed cottages look down from the hills 
upon Newport-like villas and velvet lawns, and a stone 
dwelling which might pass for the tower of the Master of 

26 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A C E— 1 8 5 2 - 1 8 8 5 

Ravenswood stands within rifle-shot of a beach called 
"the Coney Island of Connecticut." 

But this is not the New London of the boat-race excur- 
sionist. For him there waits the brilliant spectacle of a great 
race which can be seen under favorable conditions. On the 
eventful day he finds himself four miles up the river, eager- 
ly scanning the red-roofed cottage across the water, or the 
boat-house farther up, below Yale's quarters on the point, 
until at last he sees stalwart student-oarsmen appearing on 
the floats, while the sunlight glistens on the polished shells 
raised in air for a moment, then tenderly lowered to the 
water. Now the two boats shoot across the river, wel- 
comed lustily by the gaily beribboned throng which fills 
the long line of observation-cars. 

Suddenly the cheers die away. The crews are in 
line. Behind them are sixty years of rivalry. Before 
them the silvery pathway of the Thames leads on 
past the navy-yard, past Mamacoke headland, to a wil- 
derness of masts, and the grand-stand on the point, while 
the Groton Monument on the one side and the spires 
of New London on the other seem to mark the finish-line. 
And now, even while we are wondering at the beauty 
of the scene, a pistol cracks, and the roar of a thousand voices 
from the moving train breaks the silence of suspense. The 
crews are off, striving desperately for the vantage of the 
start, then settling down into their steady stroke. What 
can be better than this? Here before us are the best men 
of our two greatest colleges. For nearly a year they have 
led lives of ascetic self-denial. They have given up their 
pleasures; they have resigned their very wills to the con- 

28 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A CE — 1 8 5 2 -1 8 8 5 

trol of others; they have exercised aching muscles in gym- 
nasiums, on the running-path, in long, hard rows, for months — 
and for what ? All for this, for the twenty thrilling minutes 
of a race, which shall either proclaim their year's work 
naught or return them, crowned with laurels, to their 
college, to meet there such a triumph as awaited the victors 
in the Grecian games. Is it not magnificent, the sight of 
the splendid rivalry before us ? Not one of these bronzed, 
sturdy giants needs the stimulus of the cheers wafted across 
from the shore. Each will put forth all that is in him, al- 
though his eyes grow blind and his heart break in the effort. 
And now we see the eight broad backs in one boat rising 
and falling more and more quickly. Keen eyes on shore 
detect the spurt, and there is a note of fierceness in the yells 
hurled at the lagging crew. Now the latter quickens, and 
so the race goes on. Likely enough we can tell its outcome 
by the time the two-mile flag is reached. Then for two 
miles more we shall hear an exultant, frenzied cheering, 
mingled with the sullen shouts of the defeated. Now the 
noise redoubles. The excited crowd at the grand -stand 
have joined the chorus, and the yachts send back their 
cheers. Down close to the point, past the gaily decorated 
yachts, flash the two boats, and the roar of cannon tells 
the end of the race. 1 

1 With acknowledgments to the Outing Magazine. 



PART II 

1885-1912 

IN 1885 the writer was a member of the Columbia Uni- 
versity crew that journeyed to New London to row 
against the Harvard eight. We were quartered next door 
to Yale, and, not having any regular race on with the 
dark blue, we had a number of practice starts and brushes 
with them. These tests showed the two crews to be about 
even. 

When Harvard arrived both Yale and Columbia were 
greatly surprised at the entirely new and unorthodox style 
of the Cambridge men. They sat very high in the boat; 
the torso swing had been shortened; but the slide had been 
lengthened, thus evening up matters. The conventional 
hard catch on the beginning was entirely wanting. Smiles 
were seen on Yale and Columbia faces, and Harvard was 
put down for a double defeat. But on closer inspection, 
the crimson men showed that they were perfectly together 
in every way. The lack of the initial hard catch was made 
up for by the vigorous heave which was begun after the 
stroke had commenced, and which was carried through to 
the very finish. And this was accomplished synchronously, 

30 



THE HARVARD-YALE R ACE — 1 8 8 5-1 9 1 2 

in perfect unison — a difficult feat in this style of rowing, 
which is the stroke of single-scullers. The watermanship 
was as nearly perfect as we ever saw, and the boat traveled 
on an absolutely even keel at all times, despite the fact 
that the seats were so high. The rigging had been ex- 
ceptionally well done, the four oars on each side always 
being parallel. 

Columbia's race with Harvard came several days earlier 
than the date of the meeting between Yale and Harvard. 

In an appallingly few strokes after the starting-pistol 
had been fired Harvard's rudder went out of our side vision 
like a flash. It seemed as though we were actually an- 
chored. Harvard flew away from us. Spurt as we might, 
we could make no impression on their ever-increasing lead. 
When we returned crestfallen to the float at Gale's Ferry, 
the Yale men greeted us with ridicule, and remarked that 
the result was on account of "the stage-fright which you 
inexperienced New-Yorkers had over you." 

Yale's turn came. Harvard went away from them even 
faster than she had left us ; and the dark blue was a minute 
and a quarter behind at the finish — one of the greatest 
differences in time in New London records. 

But Harvard could not repeat. Although the next year 
she had seven of the original crew in the boat, she had lost 
that rare, good oar, Captain J. J. Storrow; and he had been 
in a most important seat — number seven. 

In 1 886 both Yale and Columbia, the latter coached by 
the writer, won from the crimson. 

The loss of Storrow, and the inability of the Cambridge 
men to execute this difficult stroke as perfectly in unison 

3i 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A C E— 1 8 8 5 - 1 9 1 2 

as they had done the year before, were the chief causes of 
their downfall. 

Thereafter, as will be seen by the record, Yale had a 
long string of fifteen winnings, interrupted only by two Har- 
vard victories, thus more than balancing the great majority 
which Harvard had before piled up. 

Storrow's phenomenal 1885 crew, which brought a new 
style as a model for Harvard rowing-men, really put a set- 
back to her rowing, as, to a great extent, it counteracted 
the good old orthodox principles which Bancroft had won 
with, and which he had instilled into Harvard boating. 

Several men of the "1885 school" tried in succeeding 
years to turn out a winning boat. And Messrs. Watson 
and Peabody, working together, coached a couple of years 
on former principles, but the change to the old style was 
too radical; the rowing-men in college could not "un- 
learn" their accustomed stroke. 

There were two breaks in Yale's winning streak. The 
first came in 1891, when Henry Keyes developed the Har- 
vard crew; and the second was in 1899, when Mumford and 
E. C. Storrow coached the crimson. 

Meanwhile "Bob" Cook and his pupil-proteges stuck to 
the well-defined old Yale style; and to their great work is 
due the consistently good rowing of the dark blue during 
a long period. For over a decade Mr. Cook continued to 
guide Yale, assisted by the able coaching of Dr. John Rogers, 
Jr., Alfred Cowles, Frederick Allen, and Edson M. Gallaudet. 

Then followed a half-dozen years during which Gallaudet 
and Allen were the head coaches — the former having charge 
during the first half of the period. 

32 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A C E — 1 8 8 5 - 1 9 1 2 

John Kennedy, the professional, had for years been assist- 
ing Cook and his followers in rigging the boats. He grad- 
ually took over more and more of the coaching until 1902, 
when he was made head coach. This position he held 
until the end of the season of 191 1, when he retired. 

Harvard made a decided departure in 1896 by inviting 
Mr. R. C. Lehman, the famous British coach, to come here 
and teach the English stroke. He drilled the crimson 
candidates during the autumn of 1896, and returned from 
England early in 1897 to coach until the end of the season. 

That year Harvard rowed with Cornell and Yale at 
Poughkeepsie. 

A number of days before the race Mr. Lehman, rowing 
at stroke, with one of the Harvard crew at bow, took the 
writer out in a pair-oared gig to demonstrate the English 
style which he was teaching to Harvard. The writer was 
surprised to see the extremely long swing toward the bow 
which the stroke entailed, and feared that the tax on the 
abdominal muscles during the recover would be too great 
for our boys. When this was told to Mr. Lehman, he 
replied, "We never have any trouble in England with this 
long swing past the perpendicular." But conditions which 
obtain in England are entirely different from those which 
exist here. There, almost without exception, the men 
who eventually "make" the Oxford and Cambridge boats 
start rowing as mere school-boys. They use the long swing 
during all of their preparatory boating, developing the ab- 
dominal muscles ; and thus they become inured to the strain 
of this position. Here, except in rare instances, our college 
oarsmen have absolutely no experience before their fresh- 

33 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A CE— 1 8 8 5 - 1 9 1 2 

man year; hence they have not these developed abdom- 
inal muscles essential for the recover from the long 
swing toward the bow. This is precisely wherein Harvard 
failed. In every other essential the crimson rowing was 
beautiful. Cornell and Yale fought it out, the former 
winning by ten seconds, while the Cambridge men were 
decisively beaten. 

The next year these three universities raced at New 
London, each using the style of stroke that it had rowed 
at Poughkeepsie, and the result was identically the 
same. 

In 1904 Frederick Colson, the ex -Cornell coxswain- 
captain and former assistant coach, went to Cambridge for 
one year to teach Cornell's stroke. This also was an un- 
successful move. 

The year following, James Wray, the professional single- 
sculler, was engaged by one of the boat clubs at Harvard, 
and was so successful that a little later he was made 'Varsity 
coach. He began by teaching all of his pupils to scull, 
and he still keeps this up. Through his good work the 
crimson has beaten Yale five times in the last six races, 
the last four wins having been in succession. Harvard has 
again struck her gait and is once more on top. 

After the disappointments of the last few years, Yale 
has again made a radical change, and the pendulum of her 
rowing policy has once more swung back to the amateur 
graduate-coach system. 

James O. Rogers, '98, captain of the '97 foot -ball eleven, 
afterward head foot-ball coach, and who rowed number four 
on the Yale 'Varsity eight at Henley in 1896, has been made 

34 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A C E— 1 8 8 5 - 1 9 1 2 

head rowing - coach. He was a pupil of Cook, and has 
coached several freshman crews. 

And in this connection it is interesting to note that Yale 
is now the only university, with the sole exception of 
Princeton, whose rowing is under the guidance of an amateur 
coach. 

In the chapter on "Yale Boating," prepared by "Karl 
Kron" for the History of Yale College, there is a resume of 
the Harvard- Yale races, republished by the author in the 
Boat-race Bulletin, of which he was the editor from 1878 to 
1883. His record has been followed from 1852 to 1883, with 
some slight changes and additions. 



THE RECORD OF HARVARD-YALE RACES 

FIRST PERIOD — 1852-60 — IRREGULAR RACES 

i. 1852, August 3. — Lake Winnipiseogee, Center Harbor, N. H., 
2 miles straight pull to windward in eight-oared barges, class of '53. 
Oneida, of Harvard, defeated Halcyon, of Yale, by two lengths; time about 
10m. 

2. 1855, July 21. — Connecticut River, Springfield, i}4 miles down- 
stream and return, in barges. Iris (eight-oared) and F. F. (four-oared), 
of Harvard; Nereid and Nautilus (both six -oared), of Yale. Allowing 
eleven seconds' handicap per oar for the smaller craft, the times of the 
boats in the order named were 22m.; 22m. 3s.; 23m. 38s.; 24m. 38s. 

3. 1859, July 26. — Lake Quinsigamond, Worcester, Mass., \]A miles 
up the lake and return. Harvard shell, 19m. 18s.; Yale shell, 20m. 18s.; 
Harvard lap -streak, Avon, 21m. 13s.; Brown lap -streak, Atlanta, 
24m. 40s. 

4. 1859, July 27. — Same course and same shell-crews, in "Citizens' 
regatta." Yale, 19m. 14s.; Harvard, 19m. 16s. 

5. i860, July 24. — Same course. Harvard, 18m. 53s.; Yale, 19m. 
5s.; Brown, 21m. 15s. 

35 



THE HARVARD-YALE R ACE — 1 8 8 5-1 9 1 2 



SECOND PERIOD — 1864-70 — UNIVERSITY RACES — SAME COURSE 

1864, July 29. — Yale, 19m. is., won by 42>^s. 

1865, July 28. — Yale, 17m. 42>^s., won by 26>^s. 

1866, July 27. — Harvard, 18m. 43s., won by 27s. 

1867, July 19. — Harvard, 18m. 13s., won by 72^. 

1868, July 24. — Harvard, 17m. 48^., won by 50s. 

1869, July 23. — Harvard, 18m. 2s., won by 9s. 

1870, July 22. — Harvard, 20m. 30s., won by foul. 



THIRD PERIOD — 1871-75 — UNIVERSITY RACES 

i. 187 1, July 21. — Three colleges. Massachusetts Agricultural de- 
feated Harvard 37s. (16m. 46>^s. to 17m. 23>^s.), and Brown 61s. (17m. 
47>^s.); Harvard defeated Brown 24s. 

2. 1872, July 24. — Six colleges. Amherst defeated Harvard 24s. (16m. 
33s. to 16m. 57s.); Agricultural, 37s. (17m. 10s.); Bowdoin, 58s. (17m. 
31s.); Williams, 86s. (17m. 50s.); Yale, 100s. (18m. 13s.); Harvard de- 
feated Yale 76s. 

3. 1873, July 17. — Eleven colleges. Yale defeated Wesley an 10s. 
(16m. 59s. to 17m. 9s.); Harvard, 37>^s. (17m. 36>^s.); Amherst, 41s. 
(17m. 40s.); Dartmouth, 68s. (18m. 7s.); Columbia, 77s. (18m. 16s.); 
Massachusetts Agricultural, 87KS. (18m. 26>^s.); Cornell, 93s. (18m. 
32s.); Bowdoin, uo>^s. (18m. 49>^s.); Trinity, 154s. (19m. 33s.); 
Williams, 166s. (19m. 45s.). 

4. 1874, July 18. — Nine colleges. Columbia defeated Wesleyan 8s. 
(16m. 42s. to 16m. 50s.); Harvard, 12s. (16m. 54s.); Williams, 26s. 
(17m. 8s.); Cornell, 49s. (17m. 31s.); Dartmouth, 78s. (18m.); Trinity, 
101s. (18m. 23.); Princeton, 116s. (18m. 38s.); Yale fouled and with- 
drew. 

5. 1875, July 14. — Thirteen colleges. Cornell defeated Columbia us. 
(16m. 53>^s. to 17m. 4>^s.); Harvard, u>^s. (17m. 5s.); Dartmouth, 
17s. (17m. io>£s.); Wesleyan, 20s. (17m. I3^s.); Yale, 21s. (17m. i4>^s.); 
Amherst, 36s. (17m. 29>^s.); Brown, 40s. (17m. 33>£s.); Williams, 50s. 
(17m. 43>^s.); Bowdoin, 57s. (17m. i$J^s.); Hamilton, time not taken; 
Union, time not taken ; Princeton, withdrew ; Harvard, defeated Yale 9>^s. 

6. 1876, July 19. — Six colleges. Cornell defeated Harvard 4s. (17m. 
i^s. to 17m. 5>^s.); Columbia, 7s. (17m. 8J^s.); Union, 26s. (17m. 
27KS.); Wesleyan, 57s. (17m. 58>£s.); Princeton, 69s. (18m. 10s.). 

36 



THE HARVARD-YALE R A C E— 1 8 8 5 - 1 9 1 2 





FOURTH PEI 


I 


. 1876, June 20. 


2 


. 1877, June 30. 


3 


. 1878, June 28.- 


4 


. 1879, June 27.- 


5 


. 1880, July 1 — 


6 


. 188 1, July 1 — 


7 


. 1882, June 30.- 


8 


. 1883, June 30.- 


9 


. 1884, June 30.- 


IO 


1885, June 26.- 


ii 


1886, July 2 — 


12 


1887, July 1 — 


13 


1888, June 29. 


14 


1889, June 29.- 


IS 


1890, June 27.- 


16 


1891, June 26.- 


17 


1892, July 1.— 


18 


1893, June 3 — 


19 


1894, June 28.- 


20 


1895, June 28. 


21 


1899, June 29. 


22 


1900, June 28.- 


23 


1901, June 27.- 


24 


1902, June 26. 


25 


1903, June 25. 


26 


1904, June 30.- 


27 


1905, June 29. 


28 


1906, June 28. 


20 


1907, June 27.- 


30 


1908, June 25. 


31 


1909, July 1 - 


32 


1910, June 30. 


33 


191 1, June 30.- 



PERIOD — EIGHT-OARED RACES — FOUR MILES 

— Yale, 22m. 2s.; Harvard, 22m. 31s. 

— Harvard, 24m. 36s.; Yale, 24m. 43s. 

—Harvard, 20m. 44s.; Yale, 21m. 29s. 

—Harvard, 22m. 15s.; Yale, 23m. 48s. 

Yale, 24m. 27s.; Harvard, 25m. 9s. 

Yale, 22m. 13s.; Harvard, 22m. 19s. 

—Harvard, 20m. 47s.; Yale, 20m. 50s. 
— Harvard, 25m. 46>£s.; Yale, 26m. 49s. 
— Yale, 20m. 3 is.; Harvard, 20m. 48s. 

FROM 1885-1912 

— Harvard, 25m. 15KS.; Yale, 26m. 30s. 
Yale, 20m. 4i>^s.; Harvard, 21m. 5s. 
-Yale, 22m. 56s.; Harvard, 23m. io^s. 
— Yale, 20m. ios.; Harvard, 21m. 24^3. 
— Yale, 21m. 30s.; Harvard, 21m. 55s. 
—Yale 21m. 29s.; Harvard, 21m. 40s. 
— Harvard, 21m. 23s.; Yale, 21m. 57s. 
-Yale, 20m. 48s.; Harvard, 21m. 42^s. 
-Yale, 25m. iJE^s.; Harvard, 25m. 15s. 
— Yale, 22m. 47s.; Harvard, 24m. 40s. 
. — Yale, 21m. 30s.; Harvard, 22m. 5s. 
, — Harvard, 20m. 52>^s.; Yale, 21m. 13s. 
— Yale, 21m. i2fs.; Harvard, 21m. 373S. 
— Yale, 23m. 37s.; Harvard, 23m. 45s. 
. — Yale, 20m. 20s.; Harvard, 20m. 33s. 
— Yale, 20m. 193S.; Harvard, 20m. 29-fs. 
— Yale, 21m. 4o^"s.; Harvard, 22m. ios. 
. — Yale, 22m. 33s.; Harvard, 22m. 36s. 
— Harvard, 23m. 2s.; Yale, "23m. ns. 
— Yale, 21m. ios.; Harvard, 21m. 13s. 
. — Harvard, 24m. ios.; Yale, 27m. 45s. 
-Harvard, 21m. 50s.; Yale, 22m. ios. 
, — Harvard, 20m. 46^.; Yale, 21m. 4s. 
— Harvard, 22m. 44s.; Yale, 23m. 4i>^s. 



The fastest time for the New London four-mile course is 
20m. ios., made by Yale in 1888. 

37 



THE HARVARD-YALE R ACE — 1 88 5-1 9 1 2 

In 1896 there was no Harvard- Yale race. Yale went to 
England to row in the Henley Regatta, where she was beat- 
en; and Harvard took part in the Intercollegiate Regatta 
at Poughkeepsie on June 26th, where she was second to 
Cornell, beating Pennsylvania and Columbia. Time: Cor- 
nell, 19m. 59s.; Harvard, 20m. 8s. 

In 1897, on June 25th, Harvard, Yale, and Cornell rowed 
at Poughkeepsie. Cornell won; Yale was second. Time: 
Cornell, 20m. 34s.; Yale, 20m. 44s.; Harvard, 21m. 

In 1898 Harvard, Yale, and Cornell rowed at New Lon- 
don. Cornell won; Yale was second. Time: Cornell, 23m. 
48s.; Yale, 24m. 2s. ; Harvard, 24m. 35s. 

Harvard and Yale have rowed forty -five dual races, be- 
ginning in 1852 on Lake Winnipiseogee. Of these Yale has 
won twenty- three and Harvard twenty-two. And this of 
itself is an eloquent demonstration of the equality of the 
efficiency of their respective methods during all these years, 
for in environment and number of students they are closely 
similar. The record of Oxford and Cambridge is not nearly 
so even. 



THE END 



N 17 1912 



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